u 



JOtTBNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jalj 9, 1874. 



of lime, ■which kills all the offensive smell, and prevents 

 diseaae among the chickens arising from this caose. — [Canada, 

 Farmer.) 



WOOD PIGEON AND DOVECOTE PIGEON 



PAIRED. 



I BEG to thank " T. G." for his courteous reply"on the above 

 anbjfCt, and for enlightening my south-country mind on the 

 metiuiuj; of the word "scar." The fact, undoubted, of the pair- 

 ing of the two birds in a wild state is certainly remarkable, and 

 the like I never heard of ; therefore it well deserved to be put 

 in print. May I, though a stranger, be permitted to congratulate 

 *'T. G-." upon his lifelong love for, and interest felt in, the 

 Great Creator's works, which, as the Good Book says, " are 

 Bought out of all them that have pleasure therein ?" and the 

 seeking gives increase of pleasure. May " T. G.," who tells ua 

 he has reached seventy-six summers, long continue to enjoy all 

 he sees around him in the world of beast and bird, of eye and 

 ear too. He no doubt feels as I feel — 



'* That Nature never did betray 

 The heart that luved her ; but 'tis her priTiiege 

 Throagh all the Tears of this our lite, to lead 

 JFrom joy to joy." 



— WrLTSHIHE Eectob. 



PIGEONS AT THE BATH AND WEST OF 



ENGLAND SHOW AT BRISTOL. 



As a Pigeon-fancier I am sorry to say I have very little op- 

 portunity of seeing my birds in a position tocompare them with 

 others, and in consequence I am obliged to judge of their merits 

 or demerits by reading the various reports published in the 

 poultry papers. I mustsay of late I have been rather unsettled as 

 to what is a good Pigeon, and as " Wiltshire Rector " leaves 

 the "poor Trumpeters " to " hlow their own trumpets," allow 

 me to say a word tor the first-prize pair. For the first time they 

 have been described aa a poor lot. What had "our Journal" 

 to say about tbe same birds last year, when they were awarded 

 first at the same show at Plymouth ? They were also first at the 

 last Exeter Show ; the Judge then awarded them the first prize, 

 and Mr. Fulton's foreign birds the second. I am also puzzled 

 at the reports on the Owls. " Wiltshire Rector" describes 

 them as " none too good," and a contemporary as " not a first- 

 rate short-headed bird in the class." For the second prize pair 

 I only wish to remark that they are the same as mentioned in 

 "our Journal" a short time ago, when they won first at the 

 Royal Cornwall Show the first time they were ever exhibited ; 

 but what I question is the report as concerning the first-prize 

 pair belonging to Mr. Smith. The cock bird was showu at the 

 Bristol Show held last January, and was then awarded the cup 

 for tbe beet bird in the several classes to which the cup was 

 allotted, and that in competition with birds exhibited by the 

 owner of the cup bird at the Crystal Palace (I do not know if the 

 champion was at Bristol). Mr. Smith informs me he has won 

 several prizes with the same pair. "Wiltshire Rector" no 

 doubt recollects his remarks on the English Owls at the Bristol 

 Show. Vide " our Journal." — F. B. 



VAGRANT PIGEONS, &c.. 

 Pigeons certainly do not like a very light loft, or they would 

 not always prefer, aa they do, the nests in the corners of a room. 

 For the possession of these they will fight ; th y like them because 

 they are dark. Further, they dislike noise, and the quietest 

 loft is most loved. Then they like a suuny roof ; I put a hurdle 

 or two on the south side of my coach-house, to which they 

 always go and bask. Hiiih trees near blowing about, especially 

 the shivering black poplars (Abeles), are objectionable. Eits, 

 of coarse, will drive tuem away. Feed your squeakers upon 

 soaked peas ; if of a large variety on soaked beans, cramming 

 them. — Wii.TSHiB£ RecTOB. 



DO OLD QUEENS BANISH THEMSELVES? 



I shodld like the opinion of some of your practical con- 

 tributors on the qaestion, " How are aged queens diapoaed 

 of?" as this muat be a qaestiou of some concern to moat bee- 

 keepers. If they are allowed to die in the hive, then it is not 

 likely they can continue to lay egga to the last day of life, aa 

 would almost be necessary for securing a successor. Or do they 

 banish themselves when approaching barrenness, or when 

 death threatens the extinction of the royal race ? The al- 

 ternative of their being either banished or slain by their sub- 

 jects I can scarcely believe. An incident that has just happened 

 in my apiary may serve to throw some ight on this question. 



On June 22 ad I hived a good top-swarm. I found the queen 

 on the ground not able to fly far, and when I put her into the 

 hive the whole swarm followed in a few minutes. I was almost 

 perfectly certain this queen muat be at least three years old, 

 and her faded appearance and tattered winss confirmed my 

 opinion. All went well, however, till the 25th, when about 

 8 P.M. I found an unusual stir about this hive. Although late 

 in the evening, there was almost as much ado as if a swarm 

 were going off. The bees flew hitherand thither searching every 

 bush, and ran out and in the hive in great excitement. This 

 continued in a leas degree until 1 p.m. on the following day, 

 when I discovered the loat queen (the same old lady), under a 

 heap of bees among the potato plants about 6 yards from the 

 hive. When I replaced her on the flight-board there was great 

 joy in the hive. I have no doubt that she had been out all 

 night. 



'This strange adventure was repeated two days afterwards. 

 Tbe queen was missing in the evening, was sought for and 

 lamented as before, until found by me with a few attendants 

 next day about noon. This time, however, there was rather 

 less concern manifested, and fewer bees followed the queen. 

 When I placed her on the board the beea rushed at her as if she 

 had been an enemy, but in a moment, having discovered their 

 mistake, they cleared for her a pathway to the vacant throne, 

 and the hive resounded with their merry song. She baa re- 

 mained in since, although I expect to find her repeat her strange 

 conduct. I believe she must be still laying, for the bees are fast 

 filling the hive with combs and carrying pollen daily. Have 

 any of your readers witnessed anything like this ? She could 

 not have been banished, for her loas was certainly mourned, 

 eager search made for her, her person shielded for many hours, 

 and her return celebrated with enthusiasm. — A Scottish School- 

 master. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



" A Scottish Schoolmaster" gives the complete text of the 

 abridged extract from Bonner, which appeared in our Journal a 

 few weeks ago, with the Editors' hint that both Schirach and 

 Wildman have a claim to priority in the matter of making arti- 

 ficial swarms ; but Bonner'a method was so superior to theirs, 

 that precedence may well be accorded to him. 



Schirach's method aa described by Keys " is by a double hive, 

 and the bees are compelled to ascend into the upper one by the 

 smoke of rags, &c. A piece of brood comb is cut out, of 4 or 

 5 inches diameter, containing a maggot or maggots precisely of 

 three days old, and properly placed in an empty hive, together 

 with part of a comb of farina and another of honey ; about a 

 quart of beea ia then to be introduced and the hive stopped up, 

 except a smtU passage for air, and so remain three days. There 

 will be a great tumult and noise in the hive for some hours, 

 when it will subside and the beea will begin to build a royal cell. 

 The fourth day an opening ia to be made of a quarter of an inch, 

 that the beea may come out leisurely. After roving abont for 

 some time they will return to their hive. It should be done ia 

 the spring." (page 252). 



Thomas Wildman's method is — " If an old hive is so full of 

 bees that they rest in the night under the board and yet show 

 no disposition to swarm, turn the hive bottom up, give it some 

 slight strokes on the sides so as to alarm the beea — they will 

 immediately run to the extremity of their comba. If you look 

 attentively to the middle of the hive you will there perctive the 

 queen among the foremoat. Seize her between the forefinger 

 and thumb, and confine her in your hand till most pirt of the 

 bees take wing ; let her then go, the bees will soon join her and 

 settle on some branch of a tree. Put them into an empty hive. 

 Put the old stock in its place, that the bees which had been out 

 in the fields may enter it on their return ; and having remained 

 there an hour or so, it is then put on another stand near or next 

 its own. The hive, having what may now be called a swarm in 

 it, ia then placed on the stand of the old stock, and if the beea 

 in both work regularly, carrying loads, all is well." (page 133). 



Bonner was acquainted with Schirach's discovery, but at 

 page 55 he says, " Long before I heard of Mr. Schirach's theory 

 or experiments I had often taken off swarma without leaving 

 any queens or royal cells in the mother hive ; notwithstanding 

 which they bred young queens, which surprised me greatly how 

 they had obtained them, aa the received opinion was this, that 

 they could not breed a queen bee if the old queen was taken 

 away before a royal cell was erected," &c. — R. S. 



[" A Scottish Schoolmaster " has sent us the same extract 

 from Bonner's work. — Eds.J 



Stadnard of the Dragoon. — I have read " Wiltshtbb 

 Rector's" remarks on the Bath and West of England Show, 

 and as an old Dragoon fancier, I may say that bia description 

 of a Dragoon is the very bost I have had the pleasure of realing, 

 and that he knows what a Dragoon is or ought to be. I wish he 

 I would undertake the task of judging the Dragoon class at a few 



